Percussion musical instrument having resonators of rectangular cross-section

ABSTRACT

A percussion musical instrument of the invention comprises resonance boxes of rectangular cross-section. Each of the resonance boxes has an open mouth of a rectangular shape, which is faced with each of tone bars. Some of the resonance boxes, especially at the bass and intermediate tone regions, has a first portion extending perpendicular to the tone bars, and a second portion extending from, and perpendicular to, the first portion. Thereby, it is possible to present a percussion musical instrument of small height, wherein the resonance boxes well receive the sonic energy emitted from the tone bars, attaining sufficient resonance therein.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,858,477 Kawakami 1451 Jan. 7, 1975 [54] PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENT 1,369,268 2 1921 Deagan 84/410 HAVING RESONATORS 0 1,772,670 8/1930 Liebich 84/410 RECTANGULAR CROSS'SECTION FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1 1 lnventorl Genichi Kawakami, Hamakita, 930,186 7/1963 Great Britain 84/403 Japan 0 [73] Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki. Primary Examiner-Richard B. Wilkinson Kaisha, Shizouka-ken, Japan Assistant Examiner-John F. Gonzales [22] Filed, Au 23 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Kemon, Palmer &

- Estabrook [21] Appl. No.: 390,686 Related US. Application Data [57] ABSTRACT [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 240,464, April 3, 1972,

abandoned A percuss1on muslcal mstrument of the 1nvent1on comprises resonance boxes of rectangular cross- [30] Foreign Application priority Data section. Each of the resonance boxes has an open A r 8 1971 Ja an 46 '2374w] mouth of a rectangular shape, which is faced with 1971 Japan 46 26375w] each of tone bars. Some of the resonance boxes, espe- 5 971 J p 46160647 cially at the bass and intermediate tone regions, has a apan first portion extending perpendicular to the tone'bars,

and a second portion extending from, and perpendicular to fi s p i Th by, i po ible to pres- Fie'ld "84/402405 ent a percussion musical instrument of small height, j 84/410 whereintheresonance boxes well receive'the sonic energy emitted from the tone bar s, attaining sufficient [56] References Cited resonance therem' UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 Claim, 22 Drawing Figures 1,173,784 .2/191 Deagan 84/403 Patented Jan. 1, 1975 3,858,477

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.1

Patented Jan. 7, 1975 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

FIG. 68

FIG. 6A

Patented Jan. 7, 1975 3,858,477

5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 70 FIG. 70 FIG.7E

Patented Jan. 7, 1975 FIG. 9

5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Q G F Patented Jan. 7, 1975 7 3,858,477

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 1 PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENT HAVING RESONATORS OF RECTANGULAR CROSS-SECTION This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 240,464, filed Apr. 3, 1972, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to percussiommusical instruments such as xylophones, marimabas, glockenspiels, vibraphones and metalophones and more particularly to improvements in resonance mechanism thereof.

Among such percussion musical instruments, there is a very favorably accepted type which has resonance devices disposed beneaththe tone bars to increase the volume of vibrated sounds of prescribed pitches emanated from the tone bars struck with a ball hammer.

Such prior ,art instruments include a type wherein there are provided beneath the tone bars vertical cylindrical resonance tubes or pipes open at the top and closed at the bottom or fitted with baffles at a proper height from the bottom.

However, a percussion musical instrument utilizing suchvertical resonance pipes in longitudinal arrangement has the drawbacks that its relatively great height as a whole extremely limits the condition in which it is used, because it must be played in a standing position, and that it presents considerable inconvenience in transit irrespective of whether transported in an assembled or a dismembered state.

Another type of such conventional percussion musical instruments is set forthin the US. Pat. No. 3,443,469. This instrument has, as illustrated in FIG. 1,

horizontal cylindrical resonance tubes 14 disposed be-' neath tone bars 11 (only one of them is indicated) in parallel relationshiptherewith, each tube being open at one end and closed at the other with a baffle 12. Each resonance tube 14 is further provided with an opening 13 in the upper peripheral wall facing the tone bar.

A percussion musical instrument using such horizontalresonance tubes 14 is more reduced in height than Y the one provided with vertical resonance pipes, offering the advantage of being played not only in a standing position, but also in a desk-set form and further facilitating transport.

However, where such horizontal-resonance tubes 14 are positioned beneath the tone bars 11 in parallel relationship therewith, difficulties arise in securely supporting them. In the aforesaid US. Patent, the horizontal resonance tubes 14 have both ends inserted into the through holes 17 and 18 bored in a pair of longitudinal frame members and 16 bridging transverse frame members (not shown) disposed at both longitudinal ends of the instrument in order to support all of the parallel-arranged tone bars 11. However, such arrangement not only decreases the mechanical strength of the longitudinal frame members 15 and 16, but also requires the horizontal resonance tubes 14 to be longer than at least the space between the longitudinal frame members'l'S and 16, presenting the disadvantage of using larger amounts of material and in consequence increasing the weight of the instrument. Since the opening 13 in the upper peripheral wall of .the tubes 14 is generally formed by the known punching techniques using an inner die, the diameter of the opening 13 is limited at most to half of that of the resonance tube 14 from the standpoint of maintaining the mechanical strength of the inner die, and further the tube diameter is restricted, as the adjacent tubes must be located close to each other, thus failing to produce musical tones with full volume due to a small resonance effect. Further, the resonance tubes of the above-mentioned US. patent have a relatively small cubic capacity per unit length, as they are formed into a cylindrical shape; therefore the effective length of each tube 14 must be made larger in order to attain the sufficient resonance effect, although it must be'to a limited extent. This calls for the location of the opening 13 to be as near as one of the longitudinal frame members 15 and 16, which, however, means that the opening 13 must be located at a deviated point from the center of the tone bar 11 between the tone nodal points, that is, from the point where the greatest vibration will occur in the tone bar. This deviation of the opening 13 from the center of the tone bar is also necessitated in order to make the'actual length of the resonance tube as short as possible. Thus, such resonance tubes have a disadvantage that the vibrational energy of the tone bar does not well enter into the resonance tube, failing to achieve an enough resonance effect. Moreover, the percussion instrument of the aforesaid U.S. patent presents difficulties in adjusting during manufacture the'distance between the tone bars 11 and resonance tubes 14 because of its specific construction, so that the distance for attaining the best or optimum degree of resonance most likely vary 'with individual finished products. Reference numeral 19 of FIG. 1 shows cords passing through holes 21 formed in frets 20 provided on both lateral sides of the tone bars and further passing through holes formed in the tone bars. The cords 19 are intended to support the tone bars in a predetermined position on the two longitudinal frame members 15 and 16 through the frets 20.

This invention has been accomplished in view of the aforementioned circumstances, and is intended to provide a percussion musical instrument having resonators of rectangular cross-section which are capable of prominently eliminating the shortcomings accompanying the prior art horizontal cylindrical resonance tubes while utilizing their advantage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the preferred embodiment of this invention, there is provided a percussion musical instrument comprising a plurality of tone bars supported at two nodal points and arranged parallel to each other, and a plurality of resonators under the tone bars, each of the resonators corresponding to each of the tone bars and having a resonance hole of a rectangular cross-section, the resonator having an open mouth of a rectangular shape. The open mouth is located at the central portion of each tone bar between the nodal points so as to face the most efficiently vibrating portion of the tone bar. The resonators, at the bass and intermediate tone regions, are comprised of a first portion extending perpendicular to the tone bar, and of a second portion extending from, and perpendicular to, the first portion. Therefore, according to the preferred embodiment, the sonic energy emitted from the vibrating tone bars is well received by the resonators and is emanated therefrom as sufficiently resonating tones. Further, a compact and small-height percussion musical instrument can be presented, and the musical instrument having a widened bass tonal region as compared with the prior art musical instrument employing horizontally-extending cylindrical resonance tubes, can also be furnished.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a transverse sectional view showing a construction for supporting the horizontal cylindrical resonance tubesfor use with a prior art percussion musical instrument;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a percussion musical instrument according to 'an' embodiment of this invention;

' FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a construction for supporting those of the resonance boxes of FIG. 2 which are arranged corresponding to the tone bars used to produce natural tones;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a construction for supporting those of the resonance boxes of FIG. 2 which are arranged corresponding to the tone barsused to produce sharp and flat tones;

FIG. 6A is an enlarged perspective view of a resonance box of the highest musical note section used in FIGS. 4 or 5;

FIG. 6B isan enlarged perspective view of a resonance box of the lowest musical note section used in FIGS. 4 or 5;

FIGS. 7A to 7B are enlarged perspective views, partly in section, of various means for increasing the effective inner cubic capacity of a resonance box belonging to the lowest musical note section; I

FIGS. 8A and 8B are enlarged perspectivev views of means for increasing the resonance effect of a resonance box of the intermediate musical note section and that of the lowest musical note section which may be alternatively used in FIGS. 4 or 5;

FIG. 8C is a sectional view showing another means for elevating the resonance effect;

FIG. 9 is a top view of a percussion musical instrument according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view, partly in section, of a resonance box assembly used in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view on line aa of FIG. 10; I

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an assembly of resonance boxes included in a percussion musical instrument according to still another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of part of tone bar supporting means mounted on the resonance box assembly of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the tone bar supporting means of FIG. 13 fitted to the upper surface of the 12; and

FIG. 15 is a perspective view resonance box assembly of FIG. 12.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments of this invention byreference to the appended drawings will now be described. FIGS. 2 to 6 jointly show one of the embodiments. There are provided two longitudinal end walls or panels 31 and 32 sufficiently spaced to match the length of a desired percussion musical instrument as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Between the panels 31 and 32 are disposed one arrangement 34 of tone bars consisting of a plurality of resonance box assembly of FIG.

of a modification of the tone'bars 33 arranged side by-sidein parallel to each other and another arrangement 36 of tone bars consisting of a plurality of tonebars 35 arranged side by side in parallel to each other. The arrangement 34 of tone bars is used to produce natural tones, while the arrangement 36 of tone bars to produce sharp and flat tones. These arrangements 34 and 36 of tone bars are supported as later described by support framework 41 formed of two pairs of spatially disposed longitudinal frame boards or members 37-38 and 39-40 which bridge the panels 31 and 32. The tone bars 33 and 35 of the arrangements34 and 36 are arranged in an order of musical notes and made shorter in length according as they correspond to higher musical notes. Accordingly, the space between each pair of the longitudinal frame boards 37-38 and 39-40is made progressively narrower from one end to the other. Under the tone bars 33 and are supported a plurality of hollow resonance boxes 45 which are arranged side by side in conformity to the respective tone bars. Each resonance box 45 is of rectangular cross-section to form a tone or resonance hole 43"of'rectangular cross-section therein, and each box 45 has an open mouth 45a of rectangular shape at the top end thereof. This open mouth 45a is faced with the corresponding tone bar 33 or 35. The resonance boxes 45 at the highest tone region are made as shown in'FIG. 6A,that is, they have only a first portion 44 extending downwardly, while the other resonance boxes 45, especially at theintermediate and bass tone regions, which boxes must have a relatively long tone hole therein, are formed to have a first portion 44 extending downward and a second portion 42 extending from the lowermost end of the first portion 44 and perpendicular to the first portion 44, as shown in FIG. 6B. Needless to say, the tone or resonance hole 43 of the resonance box as shown in FIG. 6A is extended straight downward, with the downward end closed, and the tone or resonance hole 43 of the resonance box as shown in FIG. 6B is extended first'downward and then continuously in the horizontal direction, terminating in the closed end. The length" of each tone hole 43 is selected so as to produce a resonating tone assigned to each resonance box 45, in cooperation with the corresponding tone bar 33 or 35.

These resonance boxes 45 are arranged in two rows, one row of the resonance boxes 45 being arranged side by side parallel to each other as shown in FIG. 4, in corresponding relation to the arrangement 34 of tone bar's so as to produce natural tones, the other row of the resonance boxes 45 being arranged side by side parallel to each other as shown in FIG. 5, in corresponding relation to the arrangement 36 of tone bars so as to produce sharp and flat tones. The resonance boxes assigned to produce natural tones are supported by a plate or bar 46, and the resonance boxes to produce sharp and flat tones, by another plate or bar 47. The resonance boxes are spot welded or bonded to the plate or bar 46 or 47 at one outer surface 44a of the first portion 44 of each resonance box. These support plates or bars 46 and 47 are fixed to the end walls 31 and 32, so that the open mouth 45a of each resonance box 45 is faced with the undersurface of the corresponding tone bar 33 or 35 at a predetermined space, with, the first portion 44 of the resonance box 45 extended perpendicular to the lengthwise direction of the tone bar.

Those parts of the upper surface of the longitudinal .frame boards 37- to 40 which face both lateral sides of Those parts of the tone bars 33-and 35 which face the depressions or the through holes of the frets 50 are also perforated with transverse holes. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the tone bars 33 and 35 are disposed in a predetermined state across the longitudinal frame boards 37-38 and 39-40 respectively and cords 51 are made to pass through the through hole formed in the frets50 and the tone bars 33 and 35. The ends of the cords 51 are fastened together while they are stretched with proper tension. Thus the tone bars 33 and 35 are set in place under such a floating condition above the longitudinal frame boards 37-38 and 39-40 by means of the frets 50 and cords 51 that when struck with a hammer, they freely make suitable mechanical vibrations with the nodal points of the vibrational waves existing at each supported point of the tone bars. The resonance boxes 45 are disposed beneath the tone bars 33 and 35 in parallel relationship therewith, with each second portion 42 directed in the lengthwise direction of each tone bar and with each open mouth 45a located at the central portion of each tone bar between the two supported points.

Performance on a percussion musical instrument of the aforementioned construction is effected by having the tone bars 33 and'35 selectively hammered' by a player. The struck tone bar mechanically vibrates to generate sonic energy having a predetermined pitch which is conducted through the open mouth 45a formed at the top of the corresponding resonance box 45 into the tone hole 43 where the sonic energy is resonated andthereafter is delivered into the air as a desired musical tone.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, the open mouth 45.. of the resonance box 45 is formed in a rectangular shape and thereforeit receives the sufficient sonic energy emanated from the corresponding tone bar, as compared with the conventional cylindrical resonance tubes, and the tone or resonance hole 43 of rectangular cross-section continuing from the open mouth has a greater cubic capacity per unit length'than those of the conventional cylindrical resonance tubes, permitting the sonic energy to be resonated more sufficien tly.

The foregoing embodiment further enables the resonance boxes to be easily supported by the support plates 46 and 47, eliminating the necessity of fixing resonance devices across the longitudinal frame boards by fitting the ends of the devices into the support holes formed in the frame boards as is the case with the prior an instrument using horizontal cylindrical resonance tubes. Accordingly, the distance between the resonance boxes 45 and the tone bars 33 and 35 can be easily adjusted to attain an optimum degree of resonance even when there occur changes in the ambient temperature or humidity during or after assembly, simply by controlling the height of the support plates 46 and 47. Further, the resonance boxes 45 are only required to be long enough to realize full resonance with the sonic energy delivered from the corresponding tone bars 33 and 35. Therefore, the percussion musical instrument of this invention has the advantage of effecting considerable saving on materials, having its weight reduced and its height minimized and being transported with greater convenience.

It will be apparent that a percussion musical instrument shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is applicable not only in a desk-set form as it is, but also in a standing state by fitting, as partly illustrated in FIG. 3, leg members 52 and 53.

Where the second portion 42 of one or more resonance boxes at the lowest musical note region is required to have so great a length that the end extends beyond the inner wall of the facing longitudinal frame board 37 and/or 39, then a depression or through holes may be formed in that part of the frame board which faces the end in order to receive it. If, however, the effective inner cubic capacity of the resonance boxes is increased in a manner as later described, then there will be no need to provide such depression or through hole in the frame boards, as in the case of other resonance boxes.

FIGS. 7A to 7B show various means for increasing the effective inner cubic capacity of the resonance box 45. To this end, it is advised to broaden, as shown in FIG. 7A, the width W of the subject resonance box 45 more than the widthW of other resonance boxes 45,

increase, as shown in FIG. 7B, the height h of the sub ject box over the height h of other resonance boxes 45, extend, as shown in FIG. 7C, the projection I-I of the first portion 44 of the subject box longer than the projection H of other resonance boxes 45, provide, as shown in FIG. 7D, an additional projection P on the underside of the first portion 44 of the subject resonance box or provide, as shown in FIG. 7E, an additional outward extending projection P on the opposite side of the first portion 44 to the second portion 42.

Where the first portion 44 of the resonance box 45 is connected to the second portion 42 thereof substantially at right angles as described above, then difficulties would arise in effectively conducting the sonic energy introduced through its tone hole 43 from the first portion 44 toward the second portion 42. In most cases, part of the sonic energy entered into the tone hole 43 is reflected back by the bottom wall of the first portion 44, without being further transmitted into the second portion 42, with the resultant decrease in the resonance effect.

For elevation of the resonance effect, therefore, it is preferred a reflection wall or plane 61 with a proper inclination angle 0 be provided, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, at the bottom of the first portion 44 of each resonance box 451. Such a reflection wall also has a prominent effect when it is provided on the resonator boxes of cylindrical crosssection. As shown in FIG. 8C, a reflection plane 63 with a proper inclination angle 6 may be provided by depositing a suitable resin packing 62 on the inner wall of the bottom of the first portion 44 of the cylindrical resonance boxes 452 having an L- shaped longitudinal section. In this case, the inclination angle 0 is desired to be 30 to 50 and in practical application is chosen to be about 45. Further referring to FIG. 8C, one end of the second portion 42 of the resonance box which was initially left open is plugged with a similar resin packing 64.

FIGS. 9 to 11 jointly illustrate a percussion musical instrument according to another embodiment of this invention. In the preceding embodiment, separate resonance boxes 45 were provided for the respective keys 33 and 35..In the contrast, each of independent resonance assemblies of the embodiment of FIGS. 9 to 11 disposed on both the natural tone and the sharp and flat tone sections comprises one-piece integral resonance box 70 having a plurality of. separate open mouths 71 and tone holes'72 corresponding thereto. The resonance box 70 is comprised of an upper plate 73, which is perforated with the open mouths 71, partition walls ranged as in the preceded embodiment, in corresponding relationshipto the tone bars supported thereabove, as shown in FIG. 9.'The resonance box 70 is mounted on the frame boards 37-38 or 39-40 with the frets 50 inserted into holes 78 formed in both side flanges of the upper plate'73. The parts of FIG. 9 the same as those of FIG. 2 are'denoted by the same numerals and description thereof is omitted.

-A percussion. musical instrument of FIG. 9 constructed as described above enables the resonance boxes 70 to be more easily fitted to the paired longitudinal framebards-37-38 and 39-40 by means of the flanged portions of each resonance box.

FIGS. 12 to 14 jointly showa percussion musical instrument according to still another embodiment of this invention. v

A resonance box assembly '80 of FIG. 12 comprises a major box member- 85 progressively made narrower from one end to the other and comprising a cover plate 82 bored with an elongate opening 81 at the part which spatially faces the substantial longitudinal center of the bottom of the tone bar 33 (or 35), a plate 83 constituting one of the side walls of the opening 81 disposed in the transverse direction of the tone bars 33, abottom I plate 84 positioned under the side plate 83 substantially in parallel with the cover plate 82, a plurality of partition walls 89 arranged between the cover plate 82 and bottom plate 84 at a space substantially equal to the width of each tone bar, thereby separating the elongate opening 81 into a-plurality of tone holes 87 of rectangular cross-section, end plates 90 defining the length of the tone holes .87. Thus the cover plate 82, plate 83,

' bottom plate 84, partition walls 89, and end plates 90 constitute a plurality of resonance boxes 88 assembled into one-piece body. Each resonance box 88 has an open mouth 88a of rectangular shape on-the upper side thereof.

'The upper surface portions of the cover plate 82 which are positioned on both sides of the tone holes 87 are, as shown in FIG. 14, bonded with an adhesive to a two support plates 92'(one of which is shown in FIG.

13) each comprising a series of frets erected on the surface and arranged at a predetermined space with a notch 91 formed at the top through which to pass a cord 51. The parts of FIGS. 12 to 14 the same as those of FIGS. 2 and 3 are denoted by the same vnumerals and description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 15 indicates a'modification of the resonance box assembly 80 of FIG. 'l2.While, in the case of FIG.

12, the respective resonance boxes 88 were formed by dividing the major box member 85 with a plurality of partition walls 89, the resonance box assembly 801 of FIG. 15 consists of a plurality of independent'complete resonance boxes 851 of rectangular shape which have tone holes of rectangular cross-section and which are closely'arranged in the order of musical notes between thclongitudinal end walls 31 and 32.

The resonanceboxes or assemblies thereof according to this invention are preferably formed of, for example, zinc galvanized iron plates, drawn aluminum or steel plates each 0.3 to 0.6 mm thick or equivalents thereof such as boards of ABS or As resin orhard paper having about the same thickness.

What is claimed is:

1. In a percussion musical instrument comprising tone bars having resonators under the tone bars, the improvement which comprises a resonator having a first portion of rectangular cross-section having. an

open mouth of rectangular shape and a tone chamber tion plane positioned at the base of said first portion in the junction between said first portion and said second portion, said plane being inclined at an angle between about 30 and 50 to the longitudinal axis of said second portion.

. rs =i= 

1. In a percussion musical instrument comprising tone bars having resonators under the tone bars, the improvement which comprises a resonator having a first portion of rectangular cross-section having an open mouth of rectangular shape and a tone chamber of rectangular shape depending from said open mouth, a second portion of rectangular cross-section extending perpendicularly to said first portion and having a tone chamber of rectangular cross-section communicating with the tone-chamber of said first portion and a reflection plane positioned at the base of said first portion in the junction between said first portion and said second portion, said plane being inclined at an angle between about 30* and 50* to the longitudinal axis of said second portion. 